Xiaomi's voice-controlled smart speaker costs just $44

The market for voice-controlled smart speaker is booming, where the major players Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Lenovo, Essential and most recently Alibaba having introduced their own devices. Now Xiaomi wants a piece of the action.Alongside the Mi 5X, Xiaomi also introduced the Mi AI speaker in China, a smart speaker integrated with brand's proprietary SoundMi artificial intelligence technology. Similar to other voice assisted smart speakers, the Mi AI Speaker can perform functions like answering your queries, take calls, add events and appointments to calendar, control smart home appliances, give weather updates and more. It also able to stream music, audio books, children stories, and live radio. There's also a dedicated app called that will let you add more functions and plugins.

The controls are located at the top of the speaker, along with a light ring, that illuminates when the speaker is activated. To ensure, the speaker can hear voice commands from all corners of the room, the Mi AI Speaker is equipped with six omni-directional microphone array, 360-degree audio sensing and advanced echo cancellation.Since, the product is coming from Xiaomi, one can expect it to carry a price tag, lower than the competition, and the company doesn't disappoint. The Mi MI Speaker is priced just CNY 299 ($44 | Rs. 2,800), making it the most affordable smart speaker in the market. For comparison Alibaba's Tmall Genie X1 costs CNY 499 ($73), while the Alexa powered Amazon Echo sells for around $180, Google's Home is $129 and Apple's HomePod goes for $349.